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Photoshop or PhotoNot?

"Two photos that show you shouldn't believe everything you see on Instagram" A recent news article by i100 from Independent.

Photoshop or PhotoNot?

SEE THINK WONDER

What do you see?

I see two girls

Girls with pink hair

Girl with beautiful hair

Girl with beautiful smile

What do you think is going on?

makeover

showing why we should comb our hair

using makeup is nice

What makes you wonder?

if they know each other

if they use the same place for hair

if they are the same person

are they, sisters?

The Phenomena

The phenomena of social media and the unfortunate instances I see and hear about more and more cause me to worry. During our first planning meeting of the unit, several weeks ago, I was reading articles that were filled with alarming figures and disturbing statistics. With this said, it is units like this current grade five one that fills me with hope.

From the outset, I was eager to be a part of this Unit of Inquiry. I wanted the girls to see for themselves how social media, the news and celebrity icons often promote the idea that you must attain a particular "look" or meet a "standard" to be beautiful. Most disappointing is that they encourage this via photoshop and digital enhancement.

Students were highly engaged and motivated to think more deeply about their own perceptions of themselves and others - with 90% coming to see the more natural image would give them a better sense of feeling and enhance self-esteem as opposed to the image that had been edited with Snapseed, which most students branded as "fake." That said, students commented that they were likely to add filters to their next photos - I mean, who doesn't?

Please take the time to read some student perspectives on this matter - Photoshop or PhotoNot?

I think that photoshopping a picture isn’t the correct thing to do because you need to accept the way you are because you are perfect the way you are and how you were created.

social media can make us think that we want to be like the models or famous people that are in magazines

Because of Photoshop, people think that the photoshopped images are more beautiful and real. However, the photoshopped image does not represent the real person.

Surprisingly, after I saw the difference, I actually preferred my natural look!

Our current unit discusses self-esteem and body image, this task has made me realise that we do not need to use photoshop apps to feel good about ourselves.

We can use it to make little tweaks however I disagree with using photoshop to change your whole face.

I would love to hear from other teachers, parents, students and professional regarding this matter!